wheelchair in line?

[Crazy4Disney72]

We are just about a month out from our trip and I'm trying to get all my information straight. My stepmom will be in a wheelchair due to a fractured kneecap. She's been recovering for about 8 weeks already and can now put some weight on it, but her doctor said that there is no way she will be able to walk around Disney, she needs a wheelchair.

Here's my question...I know that many of the lines are hc accessible, but I have a question about Splash Mountain... according to the Disney guide for guests with disabilities, the queue is accessible. I recall a lot of stairs, wondering how that would work for someone in a wheelchair? Is there an elevator somewhere that I don't know about?

 

[SueM in MN]

We are just about a month out from our trip and I'm trying to get all my information straight. My stepmom will be in a wheelchair due to a fractured kneecap. She's been recovering for about 8 weeks already and can now put some weight on it, but her doctor said that there is no way she will be able to walk around Disney, she needs a wheelchair.

Here's my question...I know that many of the lines are hc accessible, but I have a question about Splash Mountain... according to the Disney guide for guests with disabilities, the queue is accessible. I recall a lot of stairs, wondering how that would work for someone in a wheelchair? Is there an elevator somewhere that I don't know about?

No, there is not an elevator, but right before the line gets to the stairs, there is a path that bypasses the stairs and allows guests to come to a waiting area in the exit area to board.

The Splash Mountain ride boat?car? is not the easiest to get into, even without a leg injury, so even though she will be able to bring the wheelchair to the boarding area, she may find that she is not able to get into and/or out of the ride car.

 

[Holoshed]

Atleast the Splash Mountain ride logs are easier to use at WDW than DL.

The ones at DL are a nightmare to me and I am lucky I got out of the back one the one time I rode it without much issue.

The accessible path for wheeled riders is a bit long of a travel but not impossible. You have some areas as I remember (been a few months and not my "must ride list" top) where you have to share the walkway with people exiting the ride but if you go slow it usually is not a problem.

 

[POOHsie]

The Splash Mountain ride boat?car? is not the easiest to get into, even without a leg injury, so even though she will be able to bring the wheelchair to the boarding area, she may find that she is not able to get into and/or out of the ride car.

I totally agree with that! In my opinion, the same goes for Rock N Rollercoaster, and Test Track. For me, since CMs will not help, there always has to be someone to help pull me up out of the ride car, because one of my legs is amputated, and I have only one good leg to help propel me up. And, unfortunately, those ride cars don't have much of anything to hold on to while I try to get on/off.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

CMs are prohibited from touching a Guest to assist in either loading or unloading, even if specifically asked by the Guest. The only assistance allowed to be provided is to hold a wheelchair steady for the Guest and move it to/from storage when empty.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Something else to keep in mind is that for rides like Splash and others that with a lot of turns or drops you tend to brace yourself with your feet/legs. I found that with my foot problems I can't go on these because it hurts. I have no idea what broken kneecap feels like but it sounds like any stress on it could be painful! So just be careful of that.

 

[KPeveler]

Something else to consider with the rides like Splash Mountain and BTMRR is that you have to get in and our fairly quickly. Some rides you can take longer, but my wife worked on Splash Mountain at DL and she said they have about 17 seconds to load and reload a log. Too much longer and they back up.

This is not to say that she won't be able to go on those rides, but she WILL have to be able to do it fairly quickly without assistance from a CM.

You can take a wheelchair in pretty much every line, and you will wait in the regular line. When the main line is not accessible, the CMs will direct you to where the wheelchair can go. The user of the wheelchair plus 5 others will be able to use this accessible entrance. A party larger than that will be split up.